5th GRADE

Lesson 7:
The Power of Words

THE LESSON MISSION

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I can use strategies to handle cyberbullies.

ACTIVITY 1:  THE EMOJI MATCH GAME

An emoji is a small image or picture that represents a idea or an emotion.  How well do you know your emoji faces.  Click on the emoji icon below to play the Emoji Match Game.

ACTIVITY 2:  MAKING A CONNECTION

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Emojis are a fun way to describe what you thinking or feeling to others in the digital world.  It is important to remember however, that our words in the digital and virtual words are spoken to real people who have feelings.  Not everyone will react to a particular situation or the words you say in the same way.  Just because their reaction is different from our own, doesn’t mean we shouldn't care about their feelings.

The Lesson Tool Box

cyberbullying:  using technology tools such as the Internet and cell phones to deliberately upset someone else 

emoji:   a small image or picture that represents a idea or an emotion

social media:   websites and other online means of communication that are used by large groups of people to share information and to develop social and professional contacts​
We are going to watch a video about how words, whether typed or spoken, can impact how someone else feels.  It is called, The Power of Words.  Make sure you pay attention because I will be asking you questions about what you learned after the video.  We will watch this together on over the projector in class, but I have embedded it here so you can easily watch it at home.
In your groups, read the following questions together.  Each person in the group should discuss their answers and ideas with the other members of the group.  Then, we will discuss it as a class.
  1. Have you ever heard of the saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”?​
  2. What did Guts mean in his text that sometimes words can hurt?
As we continue with the lesson, keep Legs’s question in the back of their minds during this lesson:

How do you treat others online?

CHALLENGE 3:  UNDERSTANDING THE TOPIC

A Scenario

Rani and Aruna love a website that has games and chatting for kids. Their parents let them play on the site. Lately, though, Rani and Aruna have been receiving mean messages on the site.  
Chat Group Survey 
Read the survey questions below about the online chat scenario.  Answer the questions and click submit.  We will talk about your responses as a class.  

CHALLENGE 4:  APPLYING THE TOPIC

Poll the Audience
Below you will see several polls.  I will read each poll to the class and each student will vote.  After the voting is complete, I will read the final results and we will talk about each poll.
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Sometimes people post things online that are meant to be funny or sarcastic.  Other times people post things that are just plain mean!  There is a fine line between posting sarcastic comments and mean comments.  This means that some sarcastic comments are so close to being mean comments that the reader can confuse the sarcastic comment for a mean one.  Each poll below contains a statement posted on a text, chat group, or in social media.  For each question, ask yourself this question:
Is this statement over the line!

CHALLENGE 5:  EVALUATING THE TOPIC

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Kids like to go online and use cell phones to email, chat, watch videos, send messages, play games, and do homework. But sometimes the language can get mean or scary. Messages that make people feel bad cross the line. Sometimes that meanness is unintentional, but when people use tools such as the Internet and cell phones to deliberately upset someone else over and over, that’s cyberbullying. 
Strategies for Handling Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is using technology tools such as the Internet and cell phones to deliberately upset someone else.  If you feel that you are being cyberbullied, there are a few things you can do. 
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  1. Cooling down can be a good first step when you receive a mean message online. Taking a deep breath, counting backwards from 10, or pausing to think about what you will do next can give you time to think of the BEST way to handle the situation.
  2. Finding help or telling a trusted adult or a friend can be a good way to take action. You shouldn’t deal with the cyberbullying situation alone. The person you tell should be someone who wants to hear what you have to say, and will help you work on a solution. Adults can be especially good because they often have the power to influence the situation, or can give you advice about what to do.
  3. Ignoring the person who is cyberbullying you can be very effective. Those who bully often like attention.
  4. Whatever you do, remember to keep a copy of your communication with the individual who is cyberbullying you. If you delete the communication, there is no proof of how the bully treated you if you need to show it to a trusted adult. 

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Did you accomplish your mission?  Do you know what to do when someone uses mean or scary language on the internet?  Let's find out!  Click on the button below to go to a comic strip creator called, Story Board That.  You will login using the login and password I give you in class.  Follow the directions to create a comic strip.  Your comic strip needs at least 3 panels that describes 3 things you can do if someone is cyberbullying online.
LESSON DEVELOPED USING:
What's Cyberbullying (3-5)
Common Sense Education. (2017). What's Cyberbullying (3-5). [online] Available at: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/lesson/whats-cyberbullying-3-5 [Accessed 17 Sep. 2017].